A Season to Be Sinful (29 page)

Your servants Dash Pinch Smijun

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Also a fish wot eats boys would be good too.

No one spoke following the reading, although the maid sniffled twice.

What is to be done? Lady Rivendale asked. You will go after them, of course.

Sherry regarded his godmother with some surprise. Did I not say they were scoundrels? What is to be done? Nothing. At least not until you and I have had our dinner.

Sherry! That is not at all amusing.

It was not meant to be. He sat and indicated to the butler that the first course could be served. If theyve set off for Londonwhich I find difficult to believethey will certainly not get so far that they cant be caught on horseback.

If? Did you not just tell us it was their destination?

Sherry unfolded his napkin in his lap while the maid ladled clear beef broth into his bowl. He waited until Lady Rivendale was served before he lifted his spoon. I read what they wrote, he said. I never said I believed it. Dash may have penned the missive, but banishment was certainly not his idea.

The fish?

Yes. Thats Dash. I have to believe that Pinch is the one who suggested banishment.

Her ladyship sipped delicately from her spoon. Im afraid I dont understand. Really, Sherry, it is all too dizzying. Have they taken themselves off to London or not?

Pinch is a clever fellow, Aunt, and no ones fool. I have good reason to suspect that he has talked the others into hiding at Granville.

In the house, you mean?

Precisely. Right under our noses, if Im not mistaken.

Lady Rivendales expression was considering, then her lips quirked. Extraordinary.

Yes.

She regarded the empty places at the table. They will not be easy to find.

I know, but Cybelline and I played a good game of hide-and-seek when we were children. I think I can remember most of the best places, although I cannot hope to flush them out alone. Finding them will require a thorough search and the assistance of the servants.

And when they are caught, Sherry? What then? I hope you do not mean to make them choose their own punishment. They are not very good at it, are they?

He signed. No, theyre not. Sherry knew he had come far too late to that realization, though he was fairly certain now that Lily had comprehended there was a danger. He had seen her trying to catch his eye, and he had stubbornly ignored her. How would she have advised him? he wondered.

Chagrined, Sherry chuckled under his breath. There could be little doubt that she would inform him of all the ways he might have done things differently.

Something amuses? Lady Rivendale asked.

It is nothing I can explain, but I have concluded that I must needs seek out Miss Roses counsel.

She frowned. Are you certain that is wise? A governess who climbs trees, even to mount a rescue of one of her pupils, cannot possess sound judgment. When Sherry did not respond to the bait she dangled, her ladyship went on. I cannot think why they were allowed to behave in such a ramshackle manner in the first place.

I dont believe they were allowed.

Then she does not have their respect. That they can be so willfully disobedient does not speak well of them or the one who has their charge. Shouldnt the children have been at their studies, Sherry?

Im afraid you will have to take me to task there, Aunt. I declared a holiday in honor of your visit. The children would have been in the schoolroom otherwise.

Oh. Lady Rivendale pressed her serviette to her mouth, dabbing lightly, as the soup was removed. She was presented with the platter of roast lamb and indicated that she would have some. It cannot be good for you to indulge them.

Probably not, but then I have only your own example to guide me. He gave her a significant look, one eyebrow raised the merest fraction, and saw she had the grace to blush. Let us agree to say no more on the matter until you have met the lads, then I will attend to your views again. Does that suit?

Of course. You know it is not my way to be disagreeable.

Sherry murmured something against the rim of his glass that might be construed as assent, then took a mouthful of wine to forestall a reply. By the time he set the glass down, he observed Lady Rivendale was mollified and nothing fur-ther needed to be said. What of the baron? he asked. He did not surprise you at Sir Arthurs after I took my leave, did he?

Oh, now you mean to be unpleasant. That is no subject fit for dinner conversation. You will ruin my appetite. In spite of that, she speared a tender slice of lamb and put it in her mouth, then waggled her fork at him. How I wish I had not pressed for an introduction, Sherry. Woodridge is a distant relation by marriage, to be sure, but not nearly as distant as I should like. If Rivendale had not seen fit to turn up his toes so many years ago, I swear I would be taking him to task now. No husband should leave his wife a fortune and impecunious relations. That the baron has always held favor with the ton must be acknowledged, yet I find him too willing to impart advice. I cannot hang on his every word.

Then he has not been able to ingratiate himself.

No. Precisely the opposite.

Sherry feigned relief. Good. Then mayhap you havent written me out of your will.

What makes you think I ever wrote you into it?

Because you asked me if I wanted the Vermeer or the Reynolds.

I never did such a thing. There was a pause as she reconsidered. Did I?

Sherry chuckled. No, you didnt. But in the event you are wondering, it is the Vermeer I have had my eye on.

You are a villain, Sherry. From Lady Rivendales lips, this was naught but an endearment.

It was gone midnight by the time Pinch, Dash, and Midge were found sleeping in an unused stairwell hidden between the walls of the gallery and the music salon. The passage began in the wine cellar and extended two floors above the gallery. In addition to a paneled entrance to the gallery and salon, it also opened into a drawing room and, higher yet, into a bedchamber. Sherry remembered the stairwell but did not credit that the boys could have found it after little more than two months. He had been almost of an age with them when he came across it, but he had grown up at Granville Hall and knew its place in history as a sanctuary for those out of favor with the Court. Intrigued by the stories his father told him, he had spent long hours searching for the passages and had eventually found three. That the scoundrels had discovered even one simultaneously awed and amused, and he took no pains to hide it.

Sherry picked up Midge and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Tolley helped Pinch to his feet and took care to keep him from stumbling, while Pipkin looked after Dash. As word of finding the boys spread, servants that had been part of the search began to assemble in the gallery. When Sherry ducked through the narrow opening carrying Midge, it aroused a collective sigh. He noticed that his godmother stood hovering just beyond the circle of servants, interested in spite of herself and trying not to show it.

She was a fraud. He almost said so aloud, but Midge stirred and he decided to level the accusation later.

Thank you for your help, he told the gathering. I am certain the boys will want to make their apology to all of you in the morning. He addressed the butler. You will tell Mrs. Bennet that it appears the boys helped themselves to her meat pies.

I will, my lord.

Then these three ruffians are for bed. Sherry handed Midge over to one of the footman. As I hope all of you will be.

The servants parted for the trio taking the boys away, then followed them out, dispersing once they reached the hall.

Sherry closed the door in the wall, using his shoulder to press it into place until he heard the latch catch. Standing back, he regarded its clever concealment in the dark walnut paneling and shook his head as he marveled at the boys achievement.

I believe you are impressed, Lady Rivendale said, step-ping to his side. She slid her arm in the crook of his and gave it a small squeeze. As am I.

He glanced sideways. They are good lads, Aunt. I am sure youll

With you, Sherry, she said, interrupting him. I do not know if I ever have been so favorably disposed to you as I was upon seeing you carry out that scamp upon your shoulder. You already own my heart, so I cannot understand how it is possible for you to have tapped this wellspring of affection, but there you have it. She sighed and leaned against him. I think you can anticipate getting the Vermeer.

Bending his head, Sherry pressed his smile against the top of hers Do me the very great favor of living forever. he said. That will be enough.

After waking around midnight, Lily grew restless as she became aware of activity in the great house of which she had no part and, worse, no understanding. Using one crutch, she hobbled to her door and poked her head into the hallway just in time to see several servants duck into the wings rear stairwell. She called to them but did not raise her voice much above a whisper as she was loath to rouse the children.

It was rare since coming to Granville that she had not spent time with each of them when they were ready to lie down. They were unfamiliar with the ritual, but Lily had memories of her own mother occasionally coming to her room and sitting with her until she fell asleep. At the abbey, Sister Mary Joseph would sometimes sit in one corner of the dormitory and read from the Bible until every girl in the double row of beds was finally asleep.

The boys had no memories to compare to her own. Pinch and Midge could only vaguely recall a time when they lived with their parents. Dash knew his own mother long enough to understand she was a whore. They had no sense of belonging to anyone save for each other, and that belonging had been born and fostered by the desire to survive.

Lily considered that it was no different for her. The bond she had forged with themand the children shed helped before themwas necessary for her own survival. If she were to go on, it could not be alone.

While the restriction to her room and the bed was irksome, it was the overwhelming sense of aloneness that finally provoked her to leave. To Lilys way of thinking, the fine thread of fear woven into that feeling distinguished it from loneliness, and as she limped awkwardly toward Dashs room, fear was very much on her mind.

Finding that Dash was gone from his bed was not in itself alarming. There were times when one of the boys would cry out in his sleep, and when she went to calm the nightmare, she would discover them all in one room, sleeping side by side by side like spoons in a drawer. Since that room was usually Pinchs, Lily went there next and felt the first stirring of real panic when they were not abed.

Leaning heavily on the crutch for support as her ankle began to throb, she hobbled to Midges room and had her breath stolen by finding none of them there.

It was a puzzle, but not a particularly difficult one once she calmed herself enough to consider it. The unusual activity, the furtive coming and going of the servants, the occasional thumping that seemed to arise from the bowels of the house and vibrate the inner walls, made Lily suspect she was not the only one aware the scoundrels were absent from their rooms. There was a search under way, and she doubted the boys were assisting in it. More likely, they were the cause of it.

If it was true that they had taken themselves off, then the responsibility for it was Sheridans, and Lily was of no mind to wait until morning to tell him so.

Backing out of Midges room, Lily paused long enough to catch her breath and her balance. She could support herself using one cratch for short distances, but the long walk to Sheridans room required that she use two. With this in mind, Lily started out for her own bedchamber.

She was not yet halfway there when Pipkin and two footmen entered the hall from the servants stairs with Pinch and Dash in hand and Midge slung over a shoulder. Pinch and Dash were almost asleep on their feet, but not so unaware of her presence that they didnt hang their heads as they shuffled past.

Pipkin gave Dashs hand over to Tolley and motioned them to keep moving. He offered his arm to Lily. Should ye be out of bed so soon, Miss Rose? Here, take me arm and Ill see you back to it.

Lily gratefully accepted the support but did not mention her intention to retrieve the other crutch and be on her way again. Where did you find them? she asked.

I didnt. That was his lordships doing.

Lily looked at Pipkin askance. Lord Sheridan participated in the search?

Aye. He led it. I dont think we would have stumbled across them the whole of this night otherwise.

Why is that?

Theres a passage behind the north wall of the gallery, if ye can credit it, and his lordship pointed it out. Its a mystery how the young masters knew it was there.

It would not be possible to maintain any appreciable anger for Sherry, Lily realized, not after hearing what Pipkin had to say. The young masters, Pipkin? Is that how you think of them?

He rubbed his knobby chin with his knuckles. Oh, theyre scoundrels right enough, but I see how it is between his lordship and them. He makes it easy to forget they was plucked off the streets, same as yourself, if youll forgive me for sayin so.